Genesis 16
16
1And Sarai, Abram's wife, hath not borne to him, and she hath an handmaid, an Egyptian, and her name [is] Hagar;
2and Sarai saith unto Abram, ‘Lo, I pray thee, Jehovah hath restrained me from bearing, go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; perhaps I am built up from her;’ and Abram hearkeneth to the voice of Sarai.
3And Sarai, Abram's wife, taketh Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, at the end of the tenth year of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, and giveth her to Abram her husband, to him for a wife,
4and he goeth in unto Hagar, and she conceiveth, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and her mistress is lightly esteemed in her eyes.
5And Sarai saith unto Abram, ‘My violence [is] for thee; I — I have given mine handmaid into thy bosom, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and I am lightly esteemed in her eyes; Jehovah doth judge between me and thee.’
6And Abram saith unto Sarai, ‘Lo, thine handmaid [is] in thine hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes;’ and Sarai afflicted her, and she fleeth from her presence.
7And a messenger of Jehovah findeth her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way [to] Shur,
8and he saith, ‘Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence hast thou come, and whither dost thou go?’ and she saith, ‘From the presence of Sarai, my mistress, I am fleeing.’
9And the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, ‘Turn back unto thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hands;’
10and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, ‘Multiplying I multiply thy seed, and it is not numbered from multitude;’
11and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, ‘Behold thou [art] conceiving, and bearing a son, and hast called his name Ishmael, for Jehovah hath hearkened unto thine affliction;
12and he is a wild-ass man, his hand against every one, and every one's hand against him — and before the face of all his brethren he dwelleth.’
13And she calleth the name of Jehovah who is speaking unto her, ‘Thou [art], O God, my beholder;’ for she said, ‘Even here have I looked behind my beholder?’
14therefore hath one called the well, ‘The well of the Living One, my beholder;’ lo, between Kadesh and Bered.
15And Hagar beareth to Abram a son; and Abram calleth the name of his son, whom Hagar hath borne, Ishmael;
16and Abram [is] a son of eighty and six years in Hagar's bearing Ishmael to Abram.
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 16
16
Hagar and Ishmael
1Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2Sarai#Gn 3:17 said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. 4He slept with#16:4 Lit He came to Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. 5Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering!#16:5 Or “May my suffering be on you! I put my slave in your arms,#16:5 Lit bosom and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”#Gn 31:49; Jos 22:25; 1Sm 24:12
6Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.
7The angel of the Lord#Gn 22:11; Ex 3:2; Nm 22:22; Jdg 2:1; 2Sm 24:16; 1Kg 19:7; 2Kg 19:35; Ps 34:7 found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring,#Gn 15:5; 17:2; 26:24; Lv 26:9; Dt 7:13; 30:5; Ps 107:38 and they will be too many to count.”
11The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael,#16:11 = God Hears for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. 12This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”#Gn 25:18
13So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,”#16:13 = God Sees Me for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen#Gn 32:30; Ex 33:23; Ps 139:1–12 the one who sees me?” #16:13 Hb obscure 14That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi.#16:14 = Well of the Living One Who Sees Me It is between Kadesh and Bered.
15So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers